‘First time’ - Unai Emery explains shock decision involving Aston Villa duo Pau Torres and Leon Bailey

Unai Emery has confirmed Aston Villa duo Pau Torres and Leon Bailey have not suffered injuries despite not being selected at all for the matchday squad to face Newcastle United.

The Villans didn’t seem to miss Pau and Bailey on Saturday evening as they ran out thumping 4-1 victors over the Magpies at Villa Park. It was still a shock to see the pair not involved in any capacity, though, and even more of a surprise to hear their omissions from the squad were purely tactical.

Emery decided to start Tyrone Mings instead of Pau at left centre-back, perhaps for his physicality up against Alexander Isak, while there wasn’t room for Leon Bailey because John McGinn and Morgan Rogers were named as the wide starters and Jacob Ramsey and Marcus Rashford were brought on as reinforcements.

It was a surprise that Emery didn’t even want Pau’s quality on the bench but he felt it was necessary to have the likes of Axel Disasi and Andres Garcia available instead. On the subject of defenders, Lamare Bogarde was also overlooked as he didn’t make the roster due to a lack of space.

“Today was the first time this season I had to take players out of the squad because every player was available for today,” Emery admitted during his post-match press conference.

“It was for different circumstances that I decided out of Pau, Leon Bailey and Lamare Bogarde. I told the players, it’s the first time. Of course, it’s good for me to take this decision. I want moments like that with the players available, ready to play and performing in our demands,” he explained.

Emery delighted with Villa’s squad depth

The question about leaving out Pau, Bailey and Bogarde wasn’t the only tactical query after the Newcastle win, as Emery was also asked about Ollie Watkins and why the striker was benched in six of the seven games before starting and scoring against the Magpies.

Emery understands the confusion behind Watkins’ recent lack of game time but insists many difficult tactical decisions are becoming part and parcel of his work due to Villa’s rapid progression. With a rise in stakes in the Premier League and Champions League comes a rise in expectations, so Emery knows he must put the club’s best interests at heart, even if that means sometimes making unpopular decisions.

“We have increased clearly our level and demands,” Emery responded. “When I arrived here, it was my objective to play more matches in the season, in Europe, like now in the FA Cup playing in the semi-final.

“We are playing more than 55 (fixtures). Last year we played more than 55. This year we are going to play more than 55. There are more players in the national team. We had problems before because we didn’t have enough players available to play, we weren’t achieving points because we didn’t have some players fit or they were injured or they were not getting the level we needed.

“Now and always in my career as a coach, when I perform better it is when I have players available and two players per position, more or less, playing and performing well. Now, we are in this moment and our momentum is the squad of players’ momentum, not only the 11 players. They are showing it and it is necessary to have players ready to play and some players as well in the bench,” Emery concluded.